Macworld and CES to go head-to-head next year

Macworld Expo and the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) will collide next year, with the dates for the two major tech events virtually overlapping for the conventions' entire durations.

For the first time since 2002, avid tech convention attendees may find themselves double-booked in early January. The Apple hoopla of Macworld is scheduled to run from 8 to 12 January in San Francisco, while the gadget mania of CES is on tap for 8 to 11 January in Las Vegas.

A spokesman for IDG World Expo, operator of Macworld, said: "We've always had our event in the second week of January, beginning on Monday. They're the ones who changed the date."

CES, which usually kicks off around the second weekend in January, had to go with its 2007 dates because of its contract with the convention centre in Las Vegas, according to a CES spokeswoman.

The two events usually tend to have some overlapping days but not since 2002 has that entailed virtually the entire conference schedule, said the IDG World Expo spokesman.

In 2002, attendance at Macworld fell 5.5 per cent from the previous year to hit 87,890, according to figures IDG World Expo released at the time.

CES posted a larger drop of approximately 18 per cent from the prior year, according to figures released at the time by the Consumer Electronics Association, which operates the event.

But the CES spokeswomen noted the decline in 2002 may have been a result of hesitant travellers after the 11 September, 2001 terrorist attacks, rather than any conflict attendees incurred with the Macworld schedule.

She added that the affects of Macworld on CES 2007 are anticipated to be nil: "I do not anticipate a reduction in attendance at all because of the overlap."

The IDG World Expo spokesman meanwhile, declined to comment on the expected outcome of the overlapping days, noting that the future is difficult to predict.

Dawn Kawamoto writes for CNET News.com